Somatic/Body Centered and Movement-Centered Psychotherapy focuses on using movement, body sensations and awareness and experiential learning through memories stored in the body. This type of therapy accesses deep unconscious material which holds patterns, beliefs and habits in order to release and transform that which plagues individuals.

Prenatal and Perinatal psychology explores our earliest development from pre-conception through early infancy and the profound influence of this primary period across the lifespan. This holistic, leading-edge discipline focuses on the body-mind-spirit connection from the beginning of life within relationship.

As a psychotherapeutic practice, the field of prenatal/perinatal psychology integrates a wide range of disciplines and perspectives, including attachment, early trauma, epigenetics, developmental neurosciences, infant mental health, consciousness-noetic studies, energy psychology/medicine, and biodynamic embryology. Prenatal and perinatal psychology specialists work in many settings (such as private practice, community mental health centers, holistic care clinics, and hospitals) providing individual and group therapy and psycho-education to help clients prevent or ameliorate less than optimal beginnings. They help expectant parents and young families learn to support wholeness, human potential, and optimal relationships and to mitigate and heal stress and trauma during this primary period.

Do You Ever Feel Like you keep repeating the same bad pattern over and over? That you keep winding up in similar, negative situations? Feel like bad things keep happening to you? Like your life is living you? Or like you live under a black cloud?

Jennifer did.  But at first, she didn’t. She shrugged things off to being others’ problems and others’ issues.  She was working at a job she loved where she had a lot of responsibility and also a lot of independence.  She made her own schedule and enjoyed the flexibility and creativity it allowed.  She saw herself as friendly, outgoing, fun, open, and easy-going. Contrary to her self-perception, her co-workers viewed her as aloof, intimidating, as someone who didn’t need any help and who shrugged responsibility off on others.

When this job came to an abrupt end, Jennifer was devastated at what she termed others’ passive-aggressiveness. She felt like they had pretended everything was fine to her face, but then stabbed her in the back in the end. She easily attributed her job-loss as a great injustice and decided to move on.

She then got a completely different job in a completely different field. She thought she was doing a very good job and enjoyed the people with whom she worked.  Everything was great, until she got a phone call from her manager requesting a meeting.  He let Jennifer know that all was okay, that he just had some things to discuss with her. In that meeting, Jennifer was fired. Again she felt a greatly betrayed.

Although quite despondent, Jennifer could no longer pretend that she was a victim. She was able to recognize a pattern and sought help so that she would not continue to repeat it and the pain it inflicted.

Through hypnotherapy, Jennifer got to the source of what was causing her to unconsciously re-create this pattern of deception and betrayal. In just a couple of sessions, she was able to change the pattern and enter into the work force with a newfound sense of security and confidence.

If you can relate to Jennifer’s story and have patterns of your own that are causing you pain and keeping you stuck, hypnotherapy could be a great solution! Give me a call 303-396-8084 and we can evaluate your situation to determine if hypnotherapy is right for you.

Anticipating the Good
Anxiety about Change

From: Daily OM

Change will occur in almost every aspect of our lives, we can learn to embrace it while releasing the past with grace.

When we find ourselves going through any kind of change in our lives, our natural response may be to tense up on the physical, mental, or emotional level. We may not even notice that we have braced ourselves against a shift until we recognize the anxiety, mood swings, or general worried feeling toward the unknown that usually results. There are positive ways to move through change without pushing it away, however, or attempting to deny that it is happening. Since change will occur in almost every aspect of our lives, we can learn to make our response to it an affirmative one of anticipation, welcoming the new while releasing the past with grace.

One thing we can do is change our perspective by changing the labels we use to identify our feelings. We can reinterpret feelings of anxiety as the anxious butterflies that come with eager expectation. With this shift, we begin to look for the good that is on its way to us. Though we may only be able to imagine the possibilities, when we acknowledge that good is there for us to find, we focus our energy on joyful anticipation and bring it into our experience while allowing the feelings to carry us forward.

We can also choose to do a ceremony to allow our emotions to process. Every culture has created ceremonies to help people make the transition from one phase of life to the next. We can always create a ceremony too, perhaps by burning written thoughts to watch the smoke carry them away, thereby releasing them, or we can welcome new endeavors by planting flowers or trees. Some ceremonial activities such as a farewell send-off or housewarming party, we may do automatically. Society also has built-in ceremonies, like graduation and weddings, which may satisfy the need we feel. Sometimes the shift from denial to acceptance is all that is needed to ease our anxiety, allowing us to bring our memories with us as we move through nervousness to joyful excitement about the good to come.

Mind, Energy, Body (ME-B) Psychotherapy

The science of Mind, Energy, Body (ME-B) psychotherapy holds the philosophy that all of us have a true healed sense of self.  Our life experiences create false beliefs about our self.  These false beliefs create a false sense of self, which limits us from achieving health, life’s passions and joys. Uncovering the mind, body and energetic defenses that keep false beliefs (and thus a false sense of self) in place helps us open to a deeper sense of who we truly are.  Freedom and choice result!

Integrated ME-B therapy understands that each person has a spirit born to learn, teach and fulfill its task.  The core of this spirit is whole and god-like.  Unfortunately, prenatal and life experiences create internal “wounds” that distort our identity or sense of self and thus our ability to manifest our health and goals.

We do not become more by denying any one part of ourselves.  Rather, by meeting angry, hurt or abandoned parts with love, non-judgment and compassion, we claim our whole and can realize our individual greatness.

ME-B psychotherapy is different from other energetic modalities in that it works with and integrates all 3 systems (mind, energy, body) rather than just one or two. In doing so, true and lasting transformation occurs.

The founder of the Mind Energy Body Institute is Carolyn  Bucey Eberle MA, LPC, energy healer and CMT. She is an advocate of integrative healing.  The Institute’s mission is to expand the vision of therapy and healing to include an integrated approach working three systems together (mind, energy, body).

How many of us live in fear every day of our lives, some of us not even knowing it? Fear is so predominant in our society, so commonplace that we don’t even recognize it for what it is. Where does it come from? One answer might be the ego. While it is ego-based, it is really a case of living from the past or the future rather than the present. Fear does not exist in the present, for what’s there to fear right now? Fear comes from projecting past experiences onto potential future realities resulting in the common thinking, “What if….?” The conscious mind thrives on this and perpetuates the feeling of fear/anxiety by bringing thoughts into the mix.

This process often times feels out of our control, as though it is running the show. And on some level, it is because it is usually and mostly unconsciously driven. The way out? Bringing awareness to it is the first step. Then bringing it into therapy as something to work on, either by way of energy work, body-centered therapy, breathwork, and/or hypnotherapy.  All of these modalities allow the client access to the unconscious material in order to bring it to the light of consciousness and then transform/transmute it.

The result? More freedom and peace, more choice, less anxiety, angst and fear and more empowerment.  It’s like taking the reigns of the horse back from the ego/mind and letting it know that you are now the boss of it!

Mind Eraser?

Jenny came in and wanted to talk about hypnotherapy. She was very interested in changing certain behaviors and patterns and felt that hypnotherapy was a good fit.  As we sat together and I asked her whether she had any questions or concerns about the process. She began, “Well, I guess my only hesitation is that, while I want certain things to change and go away, I don’t want the qualities I like to disappear.”  Her comment made me wonder how many others have a similar concern.

Jenny’s statement seemed to speak to a common misperception about hypnotherapy—that the therapist is going to “take control” of the session and decide what the client does, says, and/or changes.  This could not be further from the truth. 

The onus of what happens in a hypnotherapy session lies with the client. The client is completely in charge and gets to decide what s/he wants to or is ready to change. The therapist is there to guide the process and to help identify patterns. If the client has certain characteristics, patterns and behaviors that work for her/him, those will not be addressed in the session. 

For whatever reason, people seem to project a certain magical prowess to the hypnotherapist and hypnotherapy. Maybe this comes from the hypnosis stage shows that tend to make the process more of a “show” rather than “therapy,” thereby making the hypnotist seem a bit “magical.”  However, there really is nothing magical about hypnosis. It is a natural state of mind, one that we all fluctuate in and out of throughout our day. What occurs in a session is that the therapist guides the client to attain this natural, hypnotic state purposefully.  Why? Because the subconscious mind, which holds deep-seated patterns, beliefs and behaviors are stored there.  By accessing the subconscious mind, true change happens.

“This state” therefore is not mystical or magical but natural and normal. Everyone can and does access it throughout their day; they just usually aren’t aware of it!

If you had some fear about hypnotherapy like Jenny, I hope that this article has allayed some or all of it and that you consider scheduling a session.  You have nothing to lose, unless you choose to!

What does it feel like to be hypnotized?

Let’s take a moment to talk about this because it often holds common misperceptions and leads people to prematurely truncate therapy. Some people discontinue hypnosis because they are disappointed in their reactions, believing they are not suitable subjects. Most people have the idea that they will go through something different, new and remarkable in the hypnotic state. Often they equate being hypnotized with being anaesthetized, being asleep, or being unconscious. Because of these misconceptions, when in hypnosis they find that their mind is active, that they can hear every sound in the room, that they can resist a suggestion if they so desire, that they attention wanders, their thoughts racing around, that they have not fallen asleep, and that they remember everything that has happened when they open their eyes, they believe they may have failed. They imagine that they were a poor subject or weren’t actually hypnotized at all, and they are then apt to abandon hypnotic treatment.

The experience of being hypnotized is no different from the experience of relaxing and of starting to fall asleep.  Because this experience is so familiar to you, and because you expect something startlingly different in hypnosis, you may get discouraged when a trance-state is induced.  Remember, you are not anaesthetized like in a surgical procedure, nor are you unconscious like with a concussion, nor are you asleep. Your mind is active, you are under your own control, you are able to perceive all stimuli, and you are in complete communication with the therapist. The only unique thing you may experience is a feeling of heaviness in your extremities and perhaps a bit tingly in your hands and fingers. If you typically are a deep sleeper, you may doze momentarily; if you are a light sleeper, you may have a feeling you are completely awake.

To truncate therapy because of the feeling of not being hypnotized or not being a good client is actually to do a disservice to yourself. A process has begun and like any process, you need to see to completion. If you don’t see/feel immediate results, don’t get discouraged–it took a long time for the negative patterns to develop and may take more than just one session to effectively notice change. This does not mean, however, that no change is occurring; restructuring is going on underneath; neuro-pathways are changing; you are different. It’s like a marathon: you wouldn’t want to get to mile 18 or 20 and then quit because you couldn’t see the finish line, would you? Stick with it and you will see results.

A survey of the psychotherapy literature revealed the following recovery rates:

Psychoanalysis                                   38% after 600 sessions

Behavior Therapy                               72% after 22 sessions

Hypnotherapy                                     93% after 6 sessions

(Barrios)

Healing Touch for Animals^® (HTA) is a bio-field (two energetic-field) therapy that supports the animal’s body in self-healing. The techniques used in HTA help to balance and clear the animal’s energy systems, which in turn, allows for optimum physiological responses to stabilize and support the animal.  This provides an overall sense of well-being. Using clear intent with the application of each technique, the practitioner assists with the stabilization of the animal’s energy field and healing occurs.

HTA assists with:

• Pain Reduction
• Faster Healing Time
• Overall Health and Well-Being
• Behavior Issues/Behavior Modification
• Training and Competition Focus
• Deepening Connection with Humans
• Support During Euthanasia

HTA is being used in veterinary hospitals, training facilities, shelters and private homes to assist animals in their healing process and overall well-being. The facilitation of HTA is not a substitute for traditional veterinary care, but works in tandem with veterinarians to provide the optimal level of care for your pet(s). HTA can be used on all species: small and large animals, birds, aquatics and exotics.

It is challenging to separate my training as a Transpersonal Psychotherapist and just refer to myself as a “Traditional Psychotherapist.”  It’s like asking a trained professional in any field to not view the world through their trained lenses.  In this sense, I will ALWAYS see my clients as a mind-body-spirit, not just one or two of the three.  It might help to go into a little bit about how I view Psychology and Psychotherapy as a whole, and how I view my work from there.

The word “psychology” is the combination of two terms – study (ology) and soul (psyche), or mind. The derivation of the word from Latin gives it this clear and obvious meaning:

The study of the soul or mind.

This meaning has been altered over the years until today, this is not what the word means at all. The subject of psychology, as studied in colleges and universities, currently has very little relationship with the mind, and absolutely nothing to do with the soul or spirit.

It is important to understand that words and ideas are supposed to refer to something. “The tree in the yard” refers to an actual thing that can be seen, touched and experienced. “The walking his dog at dawn” refers to an actual event that can be seen, observed and experienced. The realm of mind is an actual realm that can be experienced, and at one time there were words that accurately referred to this realm.

Dictionaries define “Psyche” as:

The spirit or soul.
The human mind.
In psychoanalysis: The mind functioning as the center of thought, emotion, and behavior.

Dictionaries define “Soul” as:

The spiritual or immortal elements in a person. A person’s mental or moral or emotional nature.

What we often call “Traditional psychotherapy” tends to fall short of addressing the all-important relationship to one’s true spiritual nature.

In modern psychotherapy, we treat symptoms because symptoms can be quantified and identified, or so it is claimed by traditional modern medical and psychiatric practices.

Thus Emotional Pain is described in terms of symptoms: Depression, Anger, Anxiety, Panic Attacks, Self-Esteem issues, Mood Swings, Compulsive Behavior, Chronic and Acute Fear, Self-Injury, Suicidal Thoughts, Shame, Guilt, Eating Disorders, or Addictions. These do not heal themselves. Time, marriages, children, success, wealth, buying a bigger house, or faster car, changing jobs or relocating will not CURE it. The damage is sometimes very deep, pervasive and profound. It is a soul injury. The person has been robbed of his or her integrity, core identity and trust.

Emotional, Physical or Sexual trauma in childhood is ‘violence’ that does not require force. The child is thrown into a ‘state of shock.’ For some the memories remain conscious, while others drive them beneath the conscious level. The coping mechanisms the child used are carried into adulthood and impact the person’s life on every level-Emotional, Physical, Mental, Behavioral, Spiritual, Sexual and Relationships. While these coping mechanisms were appropriate then, they are a ‘problem’ in adulthood.

Traditional mental health professionals ask: “What is wrong with you?” or “What happened to you?” Asking, “What is wrong with you?” or “What happened to you?” implies blame, sickness and fault. Asking, “What did you experience growing up?” -allows the person to begin the process of discovering the source of their pain and healing the wounds.

Traditional psychotherapy tends to neglect the fact that we feel, sense, and experience global political mass consciousness, as well as our individual consciousness.

A Mind, Body, Spirit approach addresses all three, therefore opening the door to true balance and healing.

Well-being comes from the understanding of the Self, the family, the local community in which we live, and the global community of which we are part. We are each one heart of the Whole; each heart here to express its unique piece of the Whole. Knowing Self creates a sense of “I as a piece of this Whole,” different and one at the same time.

What I actually believe to be “Traditional Psychotherapy” comes from my ideas and beliefs about healing: it is about reconnecting the person with their inner being. Reconnecting can be achieved through meditation, introspection and over time accessing our inner self, however, few people have the discipline, inclination or know how to affect this process. Therefore, employing the help of a professional who practices Mind, Body Spirit Healing/Transpersonal Healing will quickly establish the foundation for empowerment, self-esteem, peace of mind and on-going spiritual and emotional growth.

The benefits of healing are all encompassing. In working with people for 10 years, I have learned, no matter how urgent or grim a person’s predicament seems to be, I know without doubt if they are WILLING to do the mental work of going within to release old beliefs, feelings, thought patterns and forgiving, anything can be healed. The belief that some issues or conditions are ‘incurable’ whether it is emotions or physical illness, which is so frightening to so many people, only means that the particular issue or condition cannot be cured by ‘outer’ methods and that the person needs to GO WITHIN to effect the healing.

Whether the issue is anger, sadness, fear, guilt, shame, or humiliation there is a negative thought pattern that produces them-thus these consistent thinking patterns create our experiences. A condition can be as annoying as acne or as dreaded and frightening as the ‘C’ word-Cancer. By changing our thought patterns, we can change our experience, thus healing the condition. The issue or condition came from the inner trauma the person experienced and can be healed-never to return again.

Family Therapy

My educational training is as a Marriage and Family Therapist. I am systems-orientated and a systems thinker, meaning that I view the total (family) as more than the sum of its parts and know that if there is change in one part of the system, it affects the totality. I use a direct approach and hold honesty, integrity and connection in high esteem. I work with families to achieve a homeostasis that is more in-line with what they desire.

Parent Coaching

Parenting is one of the hardest, most important jobs we ever undertake and despite how many books we have read on the topic, nothing really can prepare us for the many unpredictable challenges that arise. How do we keep a level head? What’s the best way to allow our children to grow into their own while still guiding them and keeping them as safe as possible?

Sometimes the answers to these questions are obvious; but sometimes what we think is the “right” answer is actually very detrimental to the child in the long-run.  Children are great mirrors for us in that they show us that which we don’t necessarily want to see or that which we have tried to keep hidden. Because of this, our “stuff” will then impede our ability to parent from a level-headed place. This is when our judgments get cloudy. Having an outside “coach” to help guide your process helps you “tow the line,” stay grounded in your decisions, allows you to respond rather than react, and gives you confidence and support through challenging times.